Money is not the answer

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fosters.com

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Posted Jan. 31, 2013 at 3:15 AM
Updated Jan 31, 2013 at 8:50 AM

Posted Jan. 31, 2013 at 3:15 AM
Updated Jan 31, 2013 at 8:50 AM

When we think of federal disaster relief funding we think of Hurricane Sandy and the devastating strike she took at New York City and upper New Jersey. We think of winter nor'easters conjured by Mother Nature that have claimed lives and property in the Granite State.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., took to the Senate floor to implore her colleagues for relief from a different kind of disaster — one largely brought on by Washington.

The manmade disaster to which we refer is the slow and painful loss of the New England fishing industry at the hands of overzealous government regulatory agencies created and funded by — you guessed it — Congress and the president (past and present).

It is these regulations that have been a topic of discussion for the New England Fishery Management Council which has been meeting in Portsmouth this week to discuss the fate of the region's fishing industry and regulatory proposals which could wipe out commercial fishing in New Hampshire.

It strikes us as an oxymoron that Shaheen would have to seek disaster relief aid for a threat Congress, and the government bureaucracy it oversees, largely created. Even if we concede that the ocean which abuts our shores has been overfished, critics appear to be correct that the government has taken a sky-is-falling-everywhere approach rather than to address the unique needs of the fishing industry based here in New England.

As noted by Sen. Shaheen:

“Fishermen in New England are facing hard times. They are grappling with often onerous regulations designed to end overfishing and enable populations of fish to grow. However, despite these restrictions, the amount of codfish in the Gulf of Maine has declined drastically.

“The problem for fishermen in my state is now one of survival. New Hampshire fishermen, who have already seen their incomes decrease significantly in recent years, depend on cod more than fishermen from any other state in New England. Cod accounts for more than 90 percent of our revenues.

“This is because our fishermen use small day boats and fish close to the shore; most do not have the boats or equipment to catch other deep sea species to compensate for the lack of cod. And our fishing businesses are small, mostly owned by families who have been fishing for generations.”

As Shaheen points out, fish stocks have declined despite — or because of, we would add — Washington's efforts to micromanage and the plight of fishermen in New Hampshire has worsened as a result.

It really rubs us the wrong way that Sen. Shaheen should have to go to the Senate floor, hat in hand, begging for relief aid.

The answer is not relief aid. The answer lies in sensible government regulations that distinguish between the massive corporate trawlers that rape the ocean's fish stocks and “our fishing businesses (that) are small, mostly owned by families who have been fishing for generations.”

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In an effort to buy the New England fishing industry some time, Sen. Shaheen and Sen. Kelly Ayotte recently called on the U.S. Department of Commerce to extend for another year interim measures that balance the interests of local fishermen with the need to rebuild stocks. While we laud the effort, it is clear new legislation is needed, not simply another band aid. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake.